May 18
Events *1152 - Henry II marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. *1268 - The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch; Baibars' destruction of the city of Antioch was so great as to permanently negate the city's importance. *1498 - Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut *1593 - Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe. *1631 - In Dorchester, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts. *1652 - Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal. *1765 - Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec. *1783 - First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada after leaving the United States. *1803 - Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France. *1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate. *1811 - Las Piedras Battle first great military triumph of the liberating revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay leaded by Jose Artigas. *1825 - Theodoros Kolokotronis, general in the Greek War of Independence is released from prison. *1848 - Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany. *1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins, ending on July 4. *1869 - Surrender and dissolution of the Ezo Republic to Japan. *1869 - The Public Credit Act is passed by Ulysses S. Grant, one of his first actions as President of the United States. The Act endorsed the payment of the national debt after the American Civil War in gold currency instead of greenbacks. *1876 - Wyatt Earp starts work in Dodge City, Kansas under Marshal Larry Deger. *1896 - The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that separate but equal is constitutional. *1896 - Khodynka Tragedy: a mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II resulted in the deaths of 1,389 people. *1897 - Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published. *1900 - The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga. *1910 - The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley. *1917 - World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 passes the U.S. Congress giving the President the power of conscription. *1926 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, beach. *1927 - The Bath School Disaster: Forty-five people are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan. *1933 - New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority. *1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives over four months. *1944 - Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government. *1944 - World War II: SS troops burn down six villages in the Brkini hills in south western Slovenia. *1948 - The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking. *1953 - Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier (she flew in a F-86 Sabrejet at an average speed of 652.337 miles per hour (1049.835 km/h) at Rogers Dry Lake, California). *1958 - An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h). *1959 - Launching of the National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire in Conakry, Guinea. *1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 10 launched. Crewed by astronauts Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan, and John Young. Dress-rehearsal flight for the moon landing missions that followed. *1974 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so. *1974 - Completion of the Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built at the time. It later collapses on August 8, 1991. * 1974 - Willemstad, Curaçao Football Club: UNion DEportivo Banda Abou "UNDEBA"(UND)have been founded. *1980 - 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage. * 1980 - Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms. *1983 - In Ireland, scene of remarkable pirate radio broadcasting during the decade, the Government launched a crackdown, with the leading Dublin pirate Radio Nova being put off the air. *1990 - In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record - 515.3km/h - superseding the previous record of 406.9km/h set by the German InterCityExperimental train *1991 - Helen Sharman from Sheffield becomes the first Briton to orbit in Space * 1991 - Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland however it is unrecognised by the international community. *1992 - The Archivist of the United States issues a proclamation to officially announce that the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been ratified, despite more than 200 years for completion of the ratification process by the state legislatures. *1998 - United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft. *2006 - The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country. Births *1048 - Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, poet and philosopher (d. 1131) *1186 - Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (d. 1218) *1474 - Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua (d. 1539) *1610 - Stefano della Bella, Italian printmaker (d. 1664) *1616 - Johann Jakob Froberger, German composer (d. 1667) *1662 (O.S.) - George Smalridge, English bishop of Bristol (d. 1719) *1692 (O.S.) - Joseph Butler, English bishop and philosopher (d. 1752) *1711 - Ruđer Josip Bošković, Croatian atomic theorist (d. 1787) *1778 - Charles William Vane (d. 1854) *1785 - John Wilson, Scottish writer (d. 1854) *1797 - Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854) *1850 - Oliver Heaviside, English physicist (d. 1925) *1851 - James Budd, Governor of California (d. 1908) *1868 - Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov, Nicholas II, Last Emperor of Russia (d. 1918) *1872 - Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, English mathematician, writer and philosopher, Nobel laureate (d. 1970) *1876 - Hermann Müller, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1931) *1882 - Babe Adams, American baseball player (d. 1968) *1883 - Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (d. 1974) * 1883 - Walter Gropius, German architect (d. 1969) *1887 - Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1946) *1889 - Thomas Midgley, American chemist and inventor (d. 1944) *1891 - Rudolf Carnap, German philosopher (d. 1970) *1892 - Ezio Pinza, Italian-born bass (d. 1957) *1897 - Frank Capra, American film producer, director, and writer (d. 1991) *1901 - Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1978) *1902 - Meredith Willson, American composer (d. 1984) *1904 - Jacob K. Javits, American politician (d. 1986) *1905 - Hedley Verity, English cricketer (d. 1943) *1907 - Carl Mydans, American photographer (d. 2004) *1909 - Fred Perry, British former tennis player (d. 1995) *1911 - Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (d. 1985) *1912 - Richard Brooks, American film director, writer and producer (d. 1992) * 1912 - Perry Como, American singer (d. 2001) * 1912 - Walter Sisulu, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 2003) *1913 - Jane Birdwood, British anti-Semitic activist (d. 2000) * 1913 - Charles Trenet, French singer and songwriter (d. 2001) * 1913 - Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Fifth President of India (d. 1996) *1914 - Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer (d. 1982) *1918 - George Welch, American pilot and war hero (d. 1954) * 1918 - Massimo Girotti, Italian actor (d. 2003) *1919 - Dame Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (d. 1991) *1920 - Pope John Paul II (d. 2005) * 1920 - Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) *1922 - Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (d. 2005) * 1922 - Bill Macy, American actor * 1922 - Kai Winding, Danish-born musician (d. 1983) *1923 - Hugh Shearer, Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004) * 1923 - Jean-Louis Roux, French Canadian actor and artistic director *1924 - Priscilla Pointer, American actress * 1924 - Jack Whitaker, American sportscaster *1926 - Dirch Passer, Danish actor (d. 1980) *1928 - Pernell Roberts, American actor *1929 - Jack Sanford, American baseball player (d. 2000) *1931 - Don Martin, American cartoonist (d. 2000) * 1931 - Robert Morse, American actor *1933 - Bernadette Chirac, French politician *1934 - Dwayne Hickman, American actor and television executive *1937 - Brooks Robinson, American baseball player * 1937 - Jacques Santer, Luxembourg statesman *1939 - Giovanni Falcone, Italian magistrate (d. 1992) * 1939 - Gordon O'Connor, Canadian politician *1941 - Lobby Loyde, Australian guitarist and songwriter (d. 2007) *1942 - Albert Hammond, British musician and composer * 1942 - Nobby Stiles, English footballer *1943 - James Reiher, American professional wrestler *1944 - W. G. Sebald, German-born writer (d. 2001) *1946 - Bruce Gilbert, English musician (Wire) * 1946 - Frank Hsieh, former Premier of Taiwan * 1946 - Reggie Jackson, American baseball player * 1946 - Andreas Katsulas, American actor (d. 2006) *1947 - John Bruton, ninth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland *1949 - Rick Wakeman, English composer and musician (Yes) * 1949 - Bill Wallace, Canadian musician (The Guess Who) *1950 - Thomas Gottschalk, German television show host * 1950 - Mark Mothersbaugh, American composer, musician, and singer (Devo) *1952 - Diane Duane, American writer * 1952 - George Strait, American musician * 1952 - Jeana Yeager, American aviator *1955 - Chow Yun-Fat, Hong Kong actor *1957 - Michael Cretu, German musician (Enigma) *1958 - Toyah Willcox, English actor and singer *1959 - Jay Wells, Canadian ice hockey player *1960 - Jari Kurri, Finnish ice hockey player * 1960 - Yannick Noah, French tennis player *1962 - Mike Whitmarsh, American Volleyball Player *1962 - Nanne Grönvall, Swedish singer * 1962 - Sandra Cretu, German singer *1965 - Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (d. 1995) *1966 - Michael Tait, American musician (dc Talk, Tait) *1967 - Heinz-Harald Frentzen, German F1 driver *1969 - Martika, Cuban-American singer *1970 - Tina Fey, American comedian/actress *1971 - Brad Friedel, American soccer player * 1971 - Nobuteru Taniguchi, Japanese racing driver *1972 - Turner Stevenson, Canadian ice hockey player *1973 - Brian Heffron, American professional wrestler better known as the "Blue Meanie" *1975 - John Higgins, Scottish snooker player * 1975 - Jack Johnson, American musician * 1975 - Peter Iwers, Swedish bass player (In Flames) *1976 - Oleg Tverdovsky, Ukrainian ice hockey player *1977 - Lee Hendrie, English footballer * 1977 - Danny Mills, English footballer *1978 - Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer *1979 - Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer * 1979 - Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoiest *1980 - Jeff Roehl, American football player * 1980 - Ali Zafar, Pakistani singer and model *1981 - Mahamadou Diarra, Malian footballer *1982 - Jason Brown, English-born footballer * 1982 - Eric West, American singer and actor *1983 - Gary O'Neil, English footballer * 1983 - Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player * 1983 - Vince Young, American football player *1984 - Niki Terpstra, Dutch cyclist *1987 - Luisana Lopilato, Argentine actress and model *1988 - Ryan Cooley, Canadian television actor *1991 - Michael Edwards, Lacrosse player *1992 - Spencer Breslin, American actor *1997 - Alana Etheridge, American actress Deaths *1450 - Sejong the Great of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1397) *1550 - John, French churchman (b. 1498) *1584 - Ikeda Motosuke, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1559) *1675 - Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer (b. 1623) * 1675 - Jacques Marquette, French Jesuit missionary and explorer (b. 1637) *1692 - Elias Ashmole, English antiquarian (b. 1617) *1733 - Georg Böhm, German organist (b. 1761) *1780 - Charles Hardy, British governor of Newfoundland *1781 - Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian Indian revolutionary, a descendant of the last Inca ruler, Túpac Amaru (b. 1742) *1799 - Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (b. 1732) *1800 - Alexander Suvorov, Russian general (b. 1729) *1807 - John Douglas, Scottish Anglican bishop and man of letters (b. 1721) *1808 - Elijah Craig, American minister and inventor (b. 1738?) *1829 - Maria Josepha of Saxony, queen consort of Spain (b. 1803) *1844 - Richard McCarty, American politician (b. 1780) *1889 - Isabella Glyn Dallas, Scottish Shakepearean actress (b. 1823) *1900 - Jean Gaspard Felix Ravaisson-Mollien, French philosopher (b. 1813) *1909 - George Meredith, English novelist and poet (b. 1828) * 1909 - Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1860) *1910 - Pauline Garcia-Viardot, French mezzo-soprano and composer (b. 1821) *1910 - Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish novelist (b.1841) *1911 - Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (b. 1860) *1922 - Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845) *1927 - Andrew Kehoe, American mass murderer (b. 1872) *1941 - Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (b. 1863) *1955 - Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (b. 1875) *1956 - Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895) *1963 - Ernie Davis, American football player (b. 1939) *1967 - Andy Clyde, American actor (b. 1892) *1971 - Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician (b. 1908) *1973 - Jeannette Rankin, first U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1880) *1975 - Leroy Anderson, American composer (b. 1908) *1980 - Ian Curtis, English musician, singer and lyricist (Joy Division) (b. 1956) * 1980 - Harry Truman, victim of Mount St. Helens eruption (b. 1896) *1981 - Arthur O'Connell, American actor (b. 1908) * 1981 - William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908) *1988 - Daws Butler, American voice actor (b. 1916) *1990 - Jill Ireland, English actress (b. 1936) *1992 - Skip Stephenson, American TV personality (b. 1940) * 1992 - Marshall Thompson, American actor (b. 1925) *1995 - Elisha Cook, American actor (b. 1903) * 1995 - Alexander Godunov, Russian ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949) * 1995 - Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (b. 1933) *1997 - Bridgette Andersen, American actress (b. 1975) *1999 - Augustus Pablo, Jamaican singer (b. 1954) * 1999 - Betty Robinson, American runner (b. 1911) *2000 - Stephen M. Wolownik, Russian musician and arranger (b. 1946) *2002 - Davey Boy Smith, English professional wrestler (b. 1962) *2003 - Anna Santisteban, Puerto Rican beauty contest organizer (b. 1914) * 2003 - Barb Tarbox, Canadian anti-smoking crusader (b. 1961) *2004 - Elvin Jones, American jazz drummer (b. 1927) *2004 - Serge Turgeon, Quebec actor and union leader (b. 1946) *2006 - Andrew Martinez, U.C. Berkeley's "Naked Guy" (b. 1972) *2006 - Marissa Cooper, fictional character on FOX's "The O.C." (b. 1988) *2007 - Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist (b. 1932) *2007 - Yoyoy Villame, Philippine novelty singer and movie actor (b. 1932) Holidays and observances *International Museum Day *Baltic Fleet Day in Russia *Renascence, Unity and Poetry Day of Makhtumkuli in Turkmenistan *Festival of the god Pan in Ancient Greece *Festival of Faunus in Ancient Rome *Liturgical feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church: ** Saint Eric of Sweden ** Saint Dioscorus ** St. Felix of Cantalice ** Pope John I ** Venantius of Camerino *Feast day of Saint Alexandra in the Eastern Orthodox Church *Flag Day in Haiti External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:May